An Unexpected Gift
by EchoResonance
Summary: Since Amon had taken his bending, Tahno's been a shell of who he used to be. So when an unexpected visitor turns up on his doorstep, he isn't sure whether to slam the door closed, or see what they need.


Tahno had not been great company lately.

It was part of the nature of a Waterbender that they projected how they felt, and while it was usually considered an amazing quality, his nature was not Tahno's best friend right now. His depression followed him like a dark black cloud, making even the things that he normally excelled at, that came naturally to him, suddenly require enormous effort. Every day he found himself falling deeper and deeper into that black pit of emotion.

Since he had been to the best healers in the city, with no results, he had been cooped up in his house, only leaving to buy groceries when he ran low on food. He hadn't talked to a single person. His teammates had long since forgotten about him and had moved on, and his fangirls had dumped him like a bad habit when it became apparent that he would never be able to Pro-bend again. It was a humiliating moment to realize that he didn't have any friends that would bother to come by and try to cheer him up. The only ones who he had been with had been there for the fame or the power or the money. Even _he_ thought he was pathetic.

Therefore, he was more than a little startled when he heard a quiet rap on his front door. He climbed up from where he sat, huddled on the sofa in his living room. He raked a hand through his hair, trying to get some of the knots out. He hadn't been much concerned with his appearance lately. Slowly, and with great reluctance, Tahno shuffled to open the front door.

His visitor was _not_ who he expected.

Slender and lean, golden-brown skin stretching over her corded muscle, Korra stood on his doorstep, electric blue eyes shining. Her chocolate brown hair was pulled back like it normally was in a wolf tail, with a lock on either side of her face as well.

"Hey, Uh-vatar," he greeted her, giving a brave attempt at his old arrogant smirk.

"Hey, Tahno," she said gently. "You wanna go for a walk? I've got something for you."

He frowned.

"Why would I want anything from you?" he challenged.

Korra raised a slender eyebrow, eyes sparking with amusement.

"Come on, Tahno. Put some real clothes on instead of your pajamas, and come with me. I promise, you'll be glad you did."

Tahno was hardly in any mood to argue, so he waved her in and retreated to his bedroom to find a set of clothes suitable for going out in public. While he changed, Korra waited in the living room.

He wondered why she was at his house. She had made it clear early on that she had no love for him, never mind that moment of kindness and compassion when he had lost his bending. Tahno had made her promise him to get Amon, to take him down for him, but she was already planning on that. Now that Amon was gone, what did the Avatar want with him?

Not that he really minded her being there…

He shook away the traitorous thoughts before they could go too far. He pulled on a pair of soft silk pants and a dark blue tunic, and ran a comb through his hair. When he went back into the main room, he found Korra looking at a picture on a coffee table next to the sofa.

Korra looked up when he walked in, then back at the picture. It was of a young boy with raven hair and pale blue eyes. He was smiling happily.

"Is this you?" she asked.

Tahno nodded stiffly.

"Yeah. That was a long time ago."

She must have guessed from his tone that it wasn't open for discussion, because she didn't push the subject. Instead she straightened up and reached out toward him. With a slightly bemused look, I took her outstretched hand, surprised to find it warm and soft despite her years of non-stop training. He squeezed her fingers, and she squeezed back, before leading him out into the dim sunlight of the overcast day.

"Where are we going?" Tahno wondered as she took him down side streets.

"The beach. There's something I want to show you."

"You just want to get me alone so I could give you some private lessons," he taunted, before remembering that he couldn't teach her squat now.

Korra's lips twitched in spite of herself.

"Not quite."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Surprisingly comfortable, almost friendly silence. Tahno was startled to find that just being with Korra was starting to chase away the gloom that had been stalking him.

When they reached the beach, Korra pulled Tahno right to where the water was washing over the sand, and pushed him to the ground. He landed heavily on his butt, and crossed his legs while giving her a withering look.

"You gonna tell me what all this is about, Uh-vatar?" he said.

The sound of the waves crashing on the shore seemed to taunt him. Watching the water dance right in front of him, without him being able to do anything, was playing hell with his twisted emotions.

"Hold still, and I won't have to _tell_ you anything," said Korra with a smile.

Tahno rose an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Korra came forward, setting two fingers on his forehead, and placing her other palm against his chest, right over his heart. She closed her eyes, and when they opened again, they were glowing a blazing blue-white.

Tahno felt a horribly familiar sense of paralysis, a suffocating feeling of sensory deprivation. He wanted to move away; he tried to move away. But he couldn't. Korra held him where he was. The ethereal light left her eyes, but the feeling continued. The only reason he didn't try harder to get away, was because Korra's aquamarine gaze was fixed on his, and it shone with compassion. Her gaze asked him to trust her, and so he forced himself to remain where he was.

And then the stifling awareness lifted, to be replaced by a euphoric feeling of peace. The cool, calm feeling spread from where she touched him to the rest of his body, flowing like a river through his blood. Tahno was suddenly hyper aware of the sounds the ocean made, of the rhythm he had been blind to after his bending had been stripped from him. He locked his eyes on Korra's, feeling like he was falling into those bright blue pools.

When she pulled away, he couldn't move. He sat where he was, frozen, staggered by the intensity of the feelings he had just experienced. His every sense had been put on hyper alert, the world around him turning into one vast ocean in which all he saw was water, all he felt was peace, and all he heard was flow.

Korra held out a hand, and Tahno took it, his larger fingers encasing hers almost entirely as she helped him up. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"What are you waiting for Tahno?" the Avatar said with a smile. "You've waited long enough."

Yes. Yes he had.

He turned to the ocean, and raised his hands. A colossal wall of water erupted from the choppy surface, writhing and twisting with the motion of his hands. He pulled the water toward them, twisting it into a spiral pattern as it wrapped around the both of them.

Such a feeling of joy erupted in him then, such unadulterated happiness, it was like nothing he had ever experienced. The past few months had been agony. He knew people could live as non-benders, but he had always been a bender. A skilled one. He couldn't imagine living a complete life without his bending. And he had thought it gone forever. He had never, in all his life, been more glad to be proven wrong.

The water fell to the ground with a splash as Tahno's focus shifted. He ran at Korra, and threw his arms around her waist, lifting her into the air in his delight. Though clearly startled, the Avatar hesitantly returned his ecstatic embrace, sliding her arms around his neck. Even when he set her down, Tahno didn't release her. His arms stayed around her, and he kept his face buried in her neck.

"Thank you, Korra," he whispered, in his very first use of her name.

"It's my job, Tahno," she chuckled.

He pulled away, looking her right in the eyes.

"Why'd you do it?"

"I just said—"

"Why else?"

She frowned, but sighed.

"Because nobody deserves something like that. I know firsthand how getting my bending taken away felt. It ripped a part of me away. You and I may not be best friends, but you deserve someone to be there for you just as much as anyone else."

Tahno stared at her for a long moment, taking a short while to process her words. He reached out with a pale hand, and brushed the back of his fingers over her high cheekbone. Then he cupped the line of her jaw, his thumb feathering back and forth over her cheek. Her skin was cool against his, the normal temperature for a Waterbender. She reached up, and wrapped her thin fingers around his wrist.

Dimly, he noted that the dark clouds that had been rolling in finally split open. Rain came down, slowly at first, but then harder and heavier. It pattered against the sand, against their bodies, soaking their clothes and drenching their hair. But he didn't especially care. His sole focus was on the warm glow in Korra's stunning blue eyes. Without really thinking about it, he leaned down, following an impulse he had first felt the night he met her, when she had set her polar bear-dog on him. She had been so close, just a hair's breadth away, and all he had wanted to do was close that short distance. But he hadn't, partly because he couldn't imagine what had caused such a desire, and partly because she set Naga on him in the next instant. Now, however, he didn't care what caused the need. He only acted on it.

Korra's lips were softer than he had expected. He slanted his mouth over hers without difficulty, his hands cradling her face. She let out a surprised sound, but didn't attempt to pull away. Instead, her small hands drifted up to rest on his chest, the tiny fingers curling in the material of his shirt. One of his hands slid to the nape of her neck, tilting her head back, while his other hand wrapped around her waist, resting low on her back and pressing her closer.

His every sense seemed to ignite with burning need, lighting his nerves on fire. She tasted like spice and honey, sharp but at the same time sweet. A lock of her soft hair tickled his nose. Tahno didn't realize that his eyes had drifted closed until he opened them to look at Korra. The expression on her face, so vulnerable and at the same time strong, was startling to him. He had never seen such an open show of emotion on her face.

"It's raining," Tahno said unnecessarily, pulling back.

Korra's eyes opened, radiant.

"It is? Really?" she said, in a demonstration of her great capacity for sarcasm.

Tahno rolled his eyes and stepped back.

"Do you want to stay at my house for the night? Better than trying to bend your way across in a storm."

"I don't know…My friends are going to worry if I'm not back soon…" she trailed off.

"They'd be more worried if you never came back," Tahno reasoned.

"I'll be fine," Korra retorted.

In response Tahno pulled her up for another kiss. This one was deep and searching. His lips parted against hers, the very tip of his tongue tracing the outline of her mouth before sliding inside. She gasped at the feeling of his velvet tongue stroking her own, coaxing her to follow him back into his own mouth. When she traced him past her lips, she felt an answering rub, and then the startling feeling of him sucking on it. His large hands molded her to him, actually bending her backward because of their difference in height.

His lips slid up the side of her face to her ear, brushing the shell when he spoke.

"Am I doing a good job of changing your mind?" he asked throatily.

She shivered when he kissed her throat, taking a fold of her skin into his mouth and suckling gently, but insistently.

"This right here…is all I'm willing to give, Pretty Boy," she panted, fingers sliding into his thick raven hair.

"Are you waving the white flag?" he checked smugly, lips drifting ever so slowly to the corner of her mouth. He teased her with tantalizing flicks of his tongue, just at the very corner of her lips.

"That's not…what I said," she answered.

"That's what I heard," Tahno purred. "Uh-vatar."

"Get your ears checked," she muttered, trying to pull away. He wouldn't let her, though.

"C'mon, it's getting late," he said, his tone turning serious. He leaned his head back, but kept his arms around her. "I won't try anything. Scout's honor."

Korra glanced out at the stormy waters, then back at him.

"No, Tahno. I have to head back."

Tahno made a face, but grinned.

"Fine. But I'm going with you."

She opened her mouth to argue, but then shook her head and shrugged.

"Fine. That just means you have to do your part."

Tahno raised an eyebrow, and his smile turned into a leer.

"Happy to," he purred.

"To get us across!" Korra laughed, smacking his chest.

"Don't worry. I'll get you across, Uh-vatar."


End file.
